The leader of a coup that removed Gabon's President, Ali Bongo was sworn in as interim president by constitutional court judges on Monday in a televised ceremony designed to solidify the junta's grip on power.
On August 30, minutes after it was announced that Bongo had won a third term in an election, military personnel led by General Brice Oligui Nguema overthrew the outcome, calling it illegitimate, in what was West and Central Africa's seventh coup in three years.
An audience of military officers and officials applauded Nguema twice: first, as he entered the event and once after he took his oath of office.
The leader of the coup in Gabon that ousted former President Ali Bongo from power, Brice Oligui Nguema, has been sworn in as transitional president ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/GiRiEBispn
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State television aired footage of a mob cheering and tanks firing into the water to commemorate the occasion.
Cheering crowds filled the streets of Libreville, the country's capital, after the revolution, which ended the Bongo family's 56-year rule in the oil-producing nation but also drew censure from overseas.
On Monday, the ECCAS's regional leaders will gather in person to determine how they will react to the coup.
Last week, they pleaded with allies, led by the African Union and the United Nations, to help promptly restore constitutional order.
How long the junta intends to rule is yet unknown. Nguema stated on Friday that it would go "quickly but surely," although he also issued a warning that moving too hastily could result in unreliable elections.
